Preserving the traditional wavy dagger

Preserving the traditional wavy dagger

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): Tradition and modernism seem to stand in
unreconcilable contradiction with one and another. Explaining
tradition in a modern way is not easy. But it is not impossible
to do so.

Indonesia's Heirloom Society, Darmataji, is striving to
preserve national cultural artifacts using a modern approach.

In studying the history and philosophy behind Indonesian
heirlooms, Darmataji attempts to identify both the spiritual, as
well as the aesthetic value of the articles.

Many people, city-dwellers included, consider ancient
heirlooms, especially the keris (traditional dagger), to be
sacred objects which possess magic. They believe that spirits
dwell in the keris and that those spirits can bring good luck or
bad luck.

The keris has a blade of iron combined with either nickel or,
according to popular belief, meteoric material. In days past it
was used both in war and hunting. According to Darmataji chairman
Haryono Haryo Guritno the belief in the sacredness of the keris
is related to the belief that the spirits of those people and
animals killed with the dagger remained within it.

Guritno, a retired naval officer and a mechanical engineering
graduate of the Bandung Institute of Technology, is active in the
National Wayang (Puppet) Society and the Institute of Javanology.

He said some people believed spirits dwelt within the keris as
a result of rituals performed during the production process.

Aesthetic aspects

Guritno said that Darmataji members were in agreement about
the aesthetic aspects of the keris, but that their opinions
remained divergent regarding the question of the daggers' magic.

The keris dates back 1,500 years, Guritno said. In the past a
scarcity of materials made construction of the dagger difficult.
Only certain people, known as empu, possessed the skill required
to make a keris. During the arduous process of making the weapon,
the empu had to fast, meditate, pray and make sacred offerings.
An empu might spend two years working on one keris, he said.

"Therefore, it was said that the keris was the work of gods,"
said Guritno, who gave a lecture about the keris in 1990 at the
University of California, Berkeley.

He said that when the owner of a keris died, ownership of the
weapon passed to his eldest son. The keris thus became a family
heirloom, further increasing its value.

"We are trying to teach about the keris in a modern way, in
order to make the heritage of the keris accessible to 20th
century people," Guritno.

Darmataji was formally established only on Oct. 17, 1994, but
has been active since 1989. The group now has more than 200
members.

A member of the Heirloom Society, Mohamad Sarwadi, said he did
not really care whether an artifact possessed magic or not.

"Our focus is on protecting the national heritage, rather than
promoting the idea that the artifacts are magical. I know there
are people who believe that keris have spirits, but that is not
our concern," he said.

Poedjadi Soekarno, who owns 70 keris as well as several
antique spears, concurred with Sarwadi, saying he collected the
weapons because of their beauty.

There was a Darmataji contingent in last Tuesday's Javanese
New Year's Eve procession at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in
Jakarta. Clad in Javanese costumes, they wore the keris tucked in
to their cloth belt at the back. Some carried spears.

"In accordance with tradition, we wear the keris at the back.
By nature Indonesian people are not aggressive, which is why we
don't wear it in front," Poedjadi said.

There is also the tradition of washing keris during the first
month of the Javanese year. Among the ingredients used are citric
acid, sandalwood oil, coconut oil and oil from kenanga tree.

Those who believe in the mystical power of keris say that
something bad will happen if the heirlooms are not cleaned in
Suro, the first month on the Javanese calendar.

Poedjadi, however, washes the keris for a simpler reason: as
precious assets made of iron, they should be washed, cleaned and
well maintained to prevent corrosion.

Glory

According to Guritno, the golden age of the keris was the late
19th Century during the administration of Paku Buwono IX of
Surakarta and Hamengku Buwono VII of Yogyakarta.

From the end of the 19th Century until the early 20th Century,
the keris was considered a symbol of manhood.

"If you were a man, you owned a keris," Guritno said.

But keris of high quality were also plentiful during the
Mataram era (17th Century), the Pajang era (late 16th Century),
the Demak era (late 15th to early 16th Century), and around the
time of the downfall of the Majapahit Kingdom (15th century).

"The father of the keris is the sky -- that is where
meteorites come from, and its mother is the earth, where iron is
found," Guritno said. "The keris is a combination of the sky --
the ideal or spiritual things -- and the earth -- the real
things."

The blade of the keris is not straight, but has anywhere
between three and 29 curves. These are said to symbolize the
dynamic nature of life. "As soon as we finish one task, another
awaits us," he said.

At rest, the keris is kept in a sheath.

"The blade is inside the sheath and the sheath is outside the
blade. This is the unification of God and his subject," said
Guritno.

He said eight visual factors and three spiritual ones
determined the quality of a keris: its intactness, the quality of
its iron, its workmanship, its age, the iron alloy used in the
blade (pamor), its steel, its shape, its origin, its spiritual
power, its history and the rituals performed during its
construction.

"Knowing the history of a keris means being able to trace all
of its previous owners," Guritno said.

He the keris was considered to be glamourous, charismatic and
charming.

A high-quality keris can sell for more than a mansion.

"This one is worth between 40 and 50 million rupiah (between
US$18,000 and $22,500)," he said, pointing to one of the keris in
his collection.

It was a 400-year old keris from the Mataram era. Its handle
was studded with diamonds and its sandlewood sheath was decorated
with gold ornaments.

He said that there were keris valued in billions of rupiah.

Guritno is also in charge of a keris workshop at the
Yogyakarta pavilion of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. These days it
takes about two weeks to make a keris. Twelve kilograms of iron
are needed to make a 400-gram keris.

In medieval times 100 kilograms of iron were required to make
a 400-gram keris.

"Unlike the ancient keris, the ones we make do not have any
spiritual value," said Guritno.

He said some of the keris made in the workshop were presented
to state guests as souvenirs, while others found a home in the
keris museum at Taman Mini. The remainder are sold to the public
for between Rp 4 million and Rp 5 million ($2,200) apiece.